Value and Profit
Value and Profit
The measurement methods used in financial accounting affect our perception of the value and performance of businesses by determining the amount of reported profit or loss and the resources of the business. Thus, measurement affects shareholders and other stakeholders in the business. It has even been suggested that the world financial crisis of 2007–2010 was partly due to the mis-measurement of financial instruments. In this book, Geoffrey Whittington provides a unique survey of the theory and practice of measurement in financial accounts. It seeks to define and illustrate alternative methods, using simple numerical examples, and to analyse their theoretical properties. Also, it summarises extensive empirical evidence and the historical development of ideas and practice. It is essential reading for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students studying financial accounting, as well as practitioners and policy-makers concerned with accounting standards.
- Provides a unique, rigorous framework, expressed algebraically, for defining competing systems, adding precision to the analysis on measurement in accounting
- Illustrates algebraic formula with simple numerical answers, adding intuitive understanding and making the argument accessible for a wide range of readers
- Sets the problem of measurement in the context of recent developments in accounting practice and research
Reviews & endorsements
'A tour de force. Professor Whittington, Britain's premier accounting academic, has produced a masterpiece. Having been an active participant through both the 'Golden Age' of accounting theory and the inflation accounting controversy and a standard setter for many years thereafter, he looks back on the twentieth-century theories of income measurement, efforts to implement aspects of them and the effect (replete with references) of the huge volume of research on the direction of accounting. Written in his easy style, this book will become a classic - essential reading for teachers, theorists, researchers and accounting policy makers.' Sir David Tweedie, Chairman, International Valuation Standards Council
'Having worked as a distinguished academic and a leading standard-setter for many years, Whittington has an understanding second to none of the complex and important problems in accounting measurement. In this book he deploys impressive communication skills to make that understanding accessible to a wide readership. An invaluable guide to a subject which is critical to many major economic decisions, but widely misunderstood.' Geoff Meeks, University of Cambridge
Product details
October 2017Hardback
9780521190978
362 pages
235 × 156 × 23 mm
0.63kg
Available
Table of Contents
- 1. An introduction to the measurement problem in financial accounting
- 2. Fundamentals
- 3. Historical cost accounting
- 4. Current value accounting 1
- 5. Inflation and the general price level
- 6. Current value systems 2: capital maintenance concepts and real terms accounting
- 7. Review
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index.
